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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322987">a story about rin</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlox/pseuds/owlox'>owlox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Character Development, Crime Fighting, F/M, Feelings Realization, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Multi, Origin Story, Original Universe, Self-Discovery, Strong Female Characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:08:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,596</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24322987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlox/pseuds/owlox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>rin is 16 and still living in kaedes care. after she has a stirring encounter with sesshomaru, she decides to leave the village on her own to find true satisfaction and a deep sense of freedom again.</p><p>; she just hugged her tightly and let her wander off in the dark. kaede was not irresponsible, but she knew when it was time to let someone go. rin was mature enough to decide by herself, where she was going with her life. and now it was finally time for her to grow her own wings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kohaku/Rin (InuYasha), Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. a free heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the story not that much about the relationships, it focuses more on rins personal development and her travels. unfortunately it is not finished and i dont know if or when i will keep up with it, i hope some of you will enjoy it anyways!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>sesshomaru and jaken had returned to the village earlier this day. rin had helped with the laundry all on edge, but sadly enough, sesshomaru hadnt come to talk to her throughout the whole afternoon. she had something on her mind that she wanted to let him know.</p><p>it was not like him, to completely disregard her like this, since he usually just visited to check on her, so rin figured something mustve had happened. in fact, he had been in kaedes hut for several hours already, so rin went out to talk to her about him.</p><p>apparently, sesshomaru had gotten in a real serious fight with a very strong shadowy demon today, witch kinda messed around not only with his body, but kinda fucked with his mind in a way that he was nearly driven insane. kaede claimed, that he seemed utterly terrified and seemed completely off when he arrived, which must have been the reason why he not visited rin just yet. but as the dog demon that he was, he seemed to recover merely quickly from the fight and was currently sleeping it all off in the sanctuary.</p><p>rin decides to go check on him. as she entered the room, sesshomaru lay down on the floor, proud and majestic as ever, and rin had a hard time figuring out if he was asleep or not. regarding that he seemed to be so disturbed in the afternoon, he apparently regained his strong powerful aura that usually surrounded him already.</p><p>rin wondered, like many times before, what weaknesses were buried behind this great facade of unemotional strength. she kinda felt sorry for him, because she got the feeling, that he was much likely a prisoner of his own expectations on himself. he came off like somebody who never experienced true empathy and never could pour his heart out to anybody. maybe thats why he never had let his guard down before, not even to her. one could only imagine what was going on in his mind, only showing off emotion rarely and if so, for a blink of an eye or less.</p><p>the room was filled with the smell of herbs and some burning candles in the center, creating a very soft and warm atmosphere. rin sat down on her knees next to sesshomarus bedding and observed his chest going up and down. he had an uncommonly peaceful look on his face, as if his soul was at ease for just this little moment. his chest was covered in herbs, probably to heal his wounds from the fight.</p><p>"rin." his amber eyes were barely open "why did you come?" it was very likely of him asking odd questions.</p><p>"i was concerned for your well being", rin responded softly. "i heard you got in a pretty bad fight today." she paused, but continued as she realized the he would remain silent. "i thought a lot about you in the last few weeks, more than i normally do. in the matter of fact, i wanted to talk to you about something. you know, i would really like to join you and jaken again." she held her breath as sesshomarus eyes became wider. "ive been among the humans for a really long time now. i am older! and i really miss the time when we-"<br/>
sesshomaru growled. he snapped out of the bed and grabbed her throat. his grip wasnt too firm,  but rin felt his razor sharp claws subside in her soft skin anyways as she gasped for air. with eyes wide open she sat up against the wall and she seemed fearful, even though she knew that he commonly would never hurt her. </p><p>he watched her intensely. his eyes wandered down her face to her collar bones and he softly fondled her hair.</p><p>"i cant...", he aspirated with a spark of pain in his eyes. he looked down, loosened his grip, just to rush his head back up again to peck her lips. this was the first time hes done something like this. rin couldnt handle his emotional outburst at first, her heart was racing and her whole body shivered. it felt odd, but at the same time this had been a long time coming anyways.</p><p>he had kissed her intensely, but timid, without tongue and without removing his hand from her throat. he avoided eye contact and looked down as he gently drew her onto him.</p><p>"i cannot risk to lose you" she could hardly understand what he was saying but she got it after a moment of thinking. she was shy, but still felt the need to put her arms around him as well, giving in to the intimacy he never offered to her before. just like him, she had a hard time accepting love and touchy affection from other people. growing up, she was always on her own or with him and this kind of stuff just scared the shit out of her. but despite that, and for all the bad things that happened to her in her early childhood, her heart was filled with sunshine and she could not hide her feelings very well. and she loved him, always had and always will, so she thought.</p><p>as soon as she intensified the the situation, he slipped out of her arms, place his right hand on her thigh and the left hand on her chest and tuck her up to the wall again. still avoiding eye contact, probably to avoid the weirdness of the whole situation.</p><p>she was glad about it, therefore it gave her a pretty good gaze at his face from an angle she had never witnessed it before. she felt his cold tongue licking her neck up to her ear and his sharp fang teeth digging into her skin as he kissed her body. her breath became heavy and her whole body still shivered from excitement. she was unsure where to place her hands, her palms became hot and sweaty.</p><p>he was ruffling her hair around and kissed her one more time. it was not only a peck this time, in fact it was getting really passionate and real. his hands slipped towards untouched territories wich made rin shiver even more. she was unsure if she was ready to return it, but gladly he didnt intent to put any kind of pressure on her. </p><p> </p><p>his mind was racing but he couldnt grasp a thought. he felt insecure himself, but he couldnt hold back any longer. he wanted her to know how he missed and valued her, how he would love to have her with him again, all the things he could never form into proper words. wanting only the best for her, being apart from rin ached his heart every day, even if he had a hard time admitting it. he had been scared to death today and all he could think about was her.</p><p>rin was starting to feel more confident about the situation and she wrapped her legs around his body and grabbed his silver hair as they kissed. he pulled her closer, his hands wandered off below her kimono. she was still overwhelmed but he was so gentle and soft like she had barely known him before, as he suddenly stopped.</p><p>his breath was heavy and his eyes looked restless. he got up, avoiding to look her in the eyes. his mind was a battlefield but he was still trying to seem strong and invulnerable. rin still sat on the floor, scattered. </p><p>"rin, sorry to confuse you", his sharp voice broke the silence. "i shouldnt have been so inconsiderate."</p><p>from one moment to another the cold powerful glow around him reappeared and it was like he had shaken all the vulnerable intimacy off like it had never even been there in a matter of seconds. </p><p>rins heart cracked a little and she sat there like a dumb and pathetic teenage girl that she probably was. he turned away and threatened to walk out of the room. his hands were shivering as well and his breath was still shallow. although he had spend his long life mastering to hide his emotions, he was still a mess inside and not sure how to handle this situation. he never cared about a human or any other being before and he was desperate not to fuck this up. </p><p>for rins sake, he told himself, he could not be with her like that. she would be in danger again if she followed him, he was no good for her. their eyes met again as sesshomaru was already threatening to depart.</p><p>"please dont leave again", rin begged in a cracking voice. she tried to hold her tears back but still sobbed quietly when she got up. she couldnt believe he just started showing this amount of affection, only to back off last minute and flee.</p><p>sesshomaru stood in front of the closed door as if he was frozen. he gasped, in disbelief of his insensitivity. the last thing he wanted was to make her cry. he grid his teeth, snarled quietly, then turned around to embrace her hand with his and kissed her on the forehead.</p><p>she broke down on his chest and he just held her in his arms for a while. he was embarrassed, embarrassed, that she cried over him and that he intended to just leave her after what he just started. he didnt wanna leave her at all, but he was afraid to force her into doing something she was not ready for. and it came more natural to him to just leave the scene instead of sitting down and having an emotional talk with her.</p><p>"i didnt want to- i wasnt gonna leave you alone after all." he paused. "i- i just want your heart to remain free", he finally answered.</p><p> </p><p>rin smiled into his kimono, realizing that he did a terrible job at this. all her life she just remembered waiting for him to come back and give her some attention. he maybe not intended to, but this behaviour made her stick to him even more. oddly enough throughout the time in the human village, the relationship between the two had shifted from a somehow father-daughter-type-of-thing into her somehow having a crush on him. she was older now and he, for the most part,  had been more like a caretaker than a father to her. she was ordered to care for herself as soon as she was able to and this made her quite independent.</p><p>so now, it was kinda weird to be with him like that, but on the other hand, he was the one she knew and looked up to for her whole life. he saved her and was there whenever she needed him. she could trust and rely on him no matter what, and even if he had build a cold and hard shell around his true nature, his kind, loving and somewhat soft side had shine through for good sometimes. he always respected her and never made her feel like she was just a dumb and goofy kid. he was not like all the humans she once hated so much, but of a kind she would always be inferior to. he was a demon. and even being bathed in his grace in this very heartfelt moment. he felt just so untouchable.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i wrote it a while ago and edited it just briefly - i hope its not too corny lol😷<br/>lots of love!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. phoenix</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>the next morning, rin was awake early. she lay in her bed wondering about the previous evening. being alone now, with the night passed and the day already breaking, it all felt like it never even happened. it felt like waking up from a dream, unreal, the next day after an evening of drinking too much sake. but she had been crystal sober yesterday and she knew what happened was not an illusion.</p><p>she tripped about seeing him later on, imagining what she would do if lord sesshomaru stepped majestically out of his crib whilst she sat down with the villagers having breakfast in her simple human manner. she would have to greed him with a glowing red face and feel the embarrassment of her life. oh jeesh, she really needed to calm down a bit. and yet she had this enlightening feeling in her stomach that just made her smile for no reason. </p><p>the sun was already out and rin couldnt wait to get up. she put on her kimono and quickly went on with her morning routine. </p><p>soon, she ran into kaede who was sensing rins enlightened mood on the spot. she must have known that somethings had happened yesterday, because she was acting extra cautious around rin today and not asking a lot of questions. rin was thankful for her sensitivity, but felt enormously squirrelly and was desperate to find about sesshomarus whereabouts, but she was too timid to ask. she didnt want kaede to smell a rat about their unsaintly encounter of the previous night.</p><p>rin forced herself to eat some of rice kaede had prepared for breakfast, but in fact she wasnt hungry at all. she threw down some of it but was absolutely full after a few bites. she stood up quickly, murmured a thank you towards the old granny and was heading out for the door as kaede hold her back by calling her name.</p><p>"rin!" she looked her straight in the eyes and it seemed like she was doing her best to hide any emotions. something was fishy and rins guts were rumbling. "sesshomaru gave me this for you", she offered rin a piece of paper with her name on it, written in the most beautiful handwriting she had ever whitnessed.</p><p>no doubt it was his. rin grit her teeth and swallowed up the big fat lump resolving in her throat. "uhm, thanks miss kaede", she stuttered. "is- did he already leave?"</p><p>"im afraid he did", kaede looked down at her feet then giving rin an unidentifiable look. "oh", the young girl remained calm however was screaming inside. "well, never mind, im gonna read this outside then."</p><p>her sunny mood was acted pretty poorly. she rushed out of the hut and ran into the woods. not far away from the village, she found rest at a glade where she finally sat down. rin was resisting the sad blues that was emerging in her heart. she didnt know what he was up to and she wished he wouldnt behave so shady all the time.</p><p>she ripped the seal from the letter and overflew the words. he told her his thoughts about travelling together and that in his opinion, she should be careful not to rush things and stay in the human village some years longer, just to be sure. she was only 16 after all and it seemed to really bother him. he wrote that he was sorry if he confused her too much and that she should take her time to think about what she really wanted, promising to visit her soon with jaken and a-un and claiming that he thought about her every day and that he wanted only the best for her.</p><p>but rin was not satisfied with his letter. in fact, she was in inner turmoil and increasing anger replaced the sadness steadily. her body felt tense, she bit her lips and the paper buckled in her hands. sesshomaru was a total hack. just leaving without her and not telling her in person was just pathetic. she figured how incredibly easy it mustve been for him to just lock her up in this chicken-cube-village so someone else could take care for her, but she was not ready to participate playing his game any longer. she was tired of being wrapped in cotton wool, she wanted to decide for herself if she left or not. and she wanted to prove to everyone in the world that she was mature enough to make her own decisions.</p><p>enraged she crumpled the letter and put it in her pocket. she got up and walked around the forest for hours to soothe her berserk mood.<br/>
it was almost dawn and when she got back to the village. she felt better now, her head was clear and she had come up with a plan. as soon as she arrived, she helped kaede with the laundry and then went to bed early.</p><p>rin woke up by herself in the middle of the night. perfect. she got up and proceeded to put on her kimono in the pitch dark, so nobody would see her. earlier in the evening, she had packed all her stuff into a backpack and was now ready to head out to explore the world. she thought about sesshomaru, but she tried to push him out of her head. if he wasnt going to take her, she had to leave by herself. of course she wanted to see him again, but she also wanted to be independent, not only from him, but from everybody.</p><p>and so she got out her residence and creeped away. but as soon as she got away from the houses, she heard lush footsteps walking up behind her. shit. </p><p>it was kaede. she mustve heard rin standing up somehow, even though she behaved very very quietly. but kaede was not mad neither trying to stop her from leaving. in fact, she stated that she has had the feeling that this had been upcoming anyways and that she was just sad, that rid did not discuss it with her nor intended saying goodbye.</p><p>she just gave rin a couple of supplies for her journey, hugged her tightly and let her wander off in the dark. kaede was not irresponsible, but she knew when it was time to let someone go. she had asked her if she wanted to leave rather in the morning, but rin insisted on going right away. she was mature enough to decide by herself, where she was going with her life. and now it was finally time for her to grow her own wings.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. demon slayer village</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>rin hat wandered the forests ever since she left the village the night before. it was late in the afternoon and the sun already began to set. rin wanted to get away from her old home, so that nobody would find her and ask her questions she wasnt planning to answer anyways.</p><p>but slowly she started to be getting really tired and she began searching for a good spot to rest. she found a mellow cave with mosses lingering around the walls in the middle of a glade.  there was even a small spring where she could fill up her water container. she set camp there and looked around the area for some berries and nuts, before she finally had a rest.</p><p>it was almost dark outside, the sky was still reddish on the edges, but no ray found its way through the trees and leaves, so rins cave was already dipped in pitch black. she could hear the noises of the animals in the woods and the screams of an owl further away. the cave looked kinda scary as the sun had vanished, but rin was too brave to freak out about it. in fact, the noises of the woods and the haze of scariness reminded her of her old life, travelling with sesshomaru, jaken and a-un and the time before that, when she was all by herself. even though she wasnt completely safe out here, she felt more free than ever in the past 7 or so years.</p><p>to protect herself, she even bought some arms from the village. she had some arrows and a small knife, and since she wasnt good at archery, she left the bow behind.</p><p>but her strongest weapon was a flute sesshomaru had given her when she was only 8 years old, only some time after he left her with kaede and the others. the flute was crafted by totosai and it could only be heard by the ones whose heart was pure. it could never kill anything - but when someone with demonic intentions listened to the holy strains of this instrument, they would be in terrible pain and conflict between heart and soul, unable to proceed their wrongdoing. in the theories at last, because rin was never in the situation where she had to test her device on its impact. she once played the flute for sesshomaru and even he had to ask her to stop after a few minutes. at least she seemed to have touched his heart this one time.</p><p>rin assumed that the impact of her song would be stronger the longer she played it. so she needed some time to lure the demon in to make it harmless. the ones who listened to the songs over and over again would overcome the pain and their souls would become peaceful in the end. maybe kagome even added some of her magic to the instrument as it was crafted by totosai, wich gave it the ability to heal and purify. so rins little gadget was more a healing device than a real weapon. that was why she packed her bag with some other stuff in addition to that. so she felt prepared to defend herself agains whatever demon she came across out here.</p><p>with that all thought through, rin put her mind at ease and finally got to sleep a little. </p><p> </p><p>the next two weeks passed without anything concerning to happen and rin just wandered through the wilderness, supplied herself with food that she collected along the way and had in fact a pretty good time. she valued the time outside, loved the sounds of the forest lulling her into sleep. she met a few small demons as well, but only one of them was up to no good and she managed to defeat him easily.</p><p>currently, she was catching herself a nice dinner. she found some mushrooms and potatoes and now started to built up a campfire. it was a wonderful day, the sun was shining and rin was eating in pure relaxation. the food she scavenged was delicious and the birds were twitching with pure joy. but suddenly rin heard branches cracking and went on high alert. with one hand she grabbed an arrow that rested on her left side and didnt dare to take of her eyes from the spot the sounds were coming from.</p><p>“rin?” a boy stepped out of the covert. she recognized his face quickly.</p><p>“kohaku!” she seemed very surprised to see him. but no wonder - she just noticed that she was very close to the demon-slayer village, which he had rebuilt with the help of his elder sister and miroku. </p><p>they had lived here as a big family, including miroku and sangos 5 kids ever since naraku was defeated. but they visited inuyasha and kagome very frequently, so rin and kohaku had hung out quite a lot growing up.</p><p>but now, she actually hadnt seen him for a decent while. “what are you doing here”, kohaku asked curiously. he sat down with her at the fireplace, his eyes were sparkling joyfully.</p><p>but rin was also very happy to have him around. she had always adored him for his sweet temper and peaceful attitude, especially regarding what he had been through in his younger years. they always had so much fun when they were kids. kohaku always cared gently for rin and always protected her when she was too wild again and got in trouble.</p><p>“i left the village because i missed travelling. at first i just wanted some days off but i just kept going. i have been very good actually”, she smiled happily.</p><p>“sounds nice. you wanna come over to the village for some nights?”</p><p>“sure!”</p><p>rin had been pretty lonely for the last two weeks. not that it bothered her, but she totally could go for some human interaction. so many things twirled around her head lately. sesshomaru for the most part. she wondered what he was up to. where he went, what he was doing. and if she ever crossed his mind. </p><p>so, some distraction would be appreciated.</p><p> </p><p>she did cross his mind. the little green demon jaken had noticed that his master was acting extra snippy since they left kaedes village the last time. he was panicking about it on a daily basis because his nervous temper made him an easy target for lord sesshomarus moods. he had changed their course again this morning. </p><p>too frightened to ask, jaken had figured by himself that they were heading to look for rin again. aken had asked for sesshomaru to confirm his guess, but as often he didnt even bother to answer him. </p><p>sesshomaru had been dwindling deep into the depths of his mind. he was concerned about rins safety, for sure. his dog instincts told him, that she must have done something stupid and unpredictable. he was struggling because he was desperate to be with her again, especially regarding last times events, but on the other hand side couldnt stand having her around, because he feared his own messed up feelings. he felt like he couldnt deal with her properly, resulting in bering overprotective or just weird and mean like the last time. his face heardened as he punished himself for his weak and pathetic mannerisms. he should really not be mulling over things like this.</p><p>"jaken." the little demon flinched. "wait here with a-un", he ordered him around. they had arrived near kaedes village. the small demon imp was babbling in response but sesshomaru had already left. he scanned the place for chubby kaede and found her quickly, asking her about rins whereabouts right away.</p><p>she informed him that she had left right after him back then and was wondering why she hadnt caught up with him until now. but sesshomaru had stopped listening already. rushing up into the air his face was squinching with anger and grief. rin was such a fool! what if she got in danger? he had to find her immediately.</p><p> </p><p>meanwhile in the demon slayer village, the sun was setting to a cozy campfire dinner. rin sat down with miroku and sangos family and ate with them peacefully. theyve had lots of fun all day with the toddlers, just playing and worrying about nothing in the world. rin felt a relaxation in her body witch she missed ever since she left the human village of kaede.</p><p>the fire crackled nicely and warm and the kids were asleep. sango and miroku were chatting quietly and rin was just enjoying the moment, when kohaku touched her gently and encouraged her to follow him.</p><p>"i made something for you", he announced solemnly. "i waited for the right opportunity to give it to you and it seems you really can make use for it now."</p><p>surprisedly she followed him into the armory. he went into a back chamber and advised her to stay where she was. she looked around. the whole room was full of demon skeletons and weapons that were crafted from them. it was frightening and thrilling at the same time, thinking of all these majestic creatures just lounge around here.</p><p>kohaku returned out of the other room with something big behind his back. "are you ready?" he smirked and didnt bother to wait for her answer.</p><p>skillful he drew a giant sword witch was just astonishingly fine. rins jaw dropped of how beautiful it was and she couldnt believe kohaku made something so awesome just for her. </p><p>"wow, its..." rin was out of words. she saw his blushing face and a flash of love and thankfulness rushed through her body. she fell into his arms. "thanks kohaku! i didnt know you could even do this all by yourself!"</p><p>"well..." he scratched his head and his cheeks were heated. "i worked hard in the last few months."</p><p>"Its just beautiful.", rins eyes sparkled and she gave kohaku a big fat smile when she accepted his gift. it lay smoothly in her hands, even though it was quite heavy. and it was seriously huge, she would have to train her muscles a bit to properly use it. the sword was not straight, but formed like a scythe with two blades. it was made out of demon skull and steel, the handle part was wrapped in blueish black leather and at the lower end, a crescent moon out of white jade crystal completed the piece of art. it was perfect.</p><p>"i cant believe you did this for me."</p><p>kohaku seemed nervous."oh, its not a big deal. do you think you can use it?" "hm", she swung the sword around and giggled. "i will figure it out for sure." she tucked the blade into the ribbon of her kimono. "why dont we go for a little walk?"</p><p>rin and kohaku left the armory and wandered around the village. from behind the fence one could see the moon and the stars even brighter and the valley beyond was bathed in soothing moonlight. the two of them sat down on the edge of a cliff and admired the scenery. </p><p>rin decided she would leave tomorrow, but she had to tell kohaku still. she felt her anxious thoughts arise again and she didnt want kohaku to notice that something was off.</p><p>but somehow he had noticed her distress already and a question was burning on his tongue. </p><p>"why are you not with sesshomaru", he asked as casually as possible. rins face hardened.</p><p>"well, he is not around. besides, i dont want to be a supervised kid anymore and want to take care of myself."</p><p>kohaku smiled at her and he wished she had told him the truth. even though he felt there was more to it he chose to change the subject. there was no use to pump her and he was afraid he didnt want to know it anyway.</p><p>"i think ill leave tomorrow. something aches me to move", she said silently.</p><p>his heart stung.</p><p>"you know, you can always come back here whenever you feel lonely." a glaze in his eyes revealed deep void full of emotions bothering him on the inside. these were not only just words, but an impossible attempt to transport his profound love and care into the dimension of speech.</p><p>he had such a beautiful soul and rin really appreciated him for that. "i know", she gave him another hug. she didnt know how to thank him. how could anyone be such a healing person to be around even if he went through so much? his presence meant a lot to her, even if she didnt deserve it.</p><p>they sat there and watched the stars for some time longer. rin had the need to hold his hand and squeeze him tightly, but she didnt want to hurt him. even if she felt drawn to him in a special way, in a way that he comforted her and in a way that she knew that he was good for her, she had someone else on her mind.and she kinda hated herself for that. kohaku was just such a sweetie, but instead she was crushing on someone who would most probably break her heart with his reckless behavior.</p><p>rin was only about to discover it for herself but - feelings were very annoying.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. ambush</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>the next day rin left the demon slayers village with an awful lot of supplies. she had enjoyed the time with kohaku and the other members of the family, but was now very pleased to be on her own again. the weather was beautiful and the air felt fresher than ever. rin left the village in the direction of north west and was now on her way to the mountainside. a few miles from here, there would be rivers and hot springs, where she planned on setting up her camp.</p><p>she had been on her way for several hours and the sun began to set again, as rin felt an uneasy feeling emerging from her guts, like as she was followed somehow. she decided to hurry her way up to the mountains. on top of that, the weather had changed to its worse. dark clouds covered the sky and thunder was rumbling in the shadows. the atmosphere began to get a little bit too creepy and rin almost regretted she left the demon slayers village.</p><p>to put her mind at ease, she started playing the flute, but the awful feeling did not go away. soon, she startet hearing cracking wood and footsteps coming towards her. but she could not pin down on what it was. her hands were shivering and she grabbed kohakus sword, ready to wield it against any type of enemy.</p><p>she tried to be brave, but in fact she was frightened and began to question if she should have stayed with kohaku for longer than just one night. but when she was really honest with herself, despite the undeniable love she felt for kohaku, he was not the one with whom she wanted to be right now. and despite the fact that she really needed the alone time she had the past few weeks, rin was desperate to see sesshomaru again. she missed him really bad and that he kissed her the last time she saw him had made things terribly worse.</p><p>a lonesome tear dripped off her cheek, as the bushes cracked open and a group of bandits broke out of the shadows. rin tried to defend herself with the sword, but she only managed to wound a few and the other men had her tackled down on the ground pretty quick. she was still not trained in swordsmanship and they were just too many.</p><p>they were stealing her weapons and started laughing at her. some of them were talking about what they planned to do to her despite that in the filthiest way. it was disgusting and rin was once again convinced that most humans were just filthy trash beings that only thought about their own good. the mens disgusting laughter was the last thing rin could hear before something hard hit her head and her vision turned to pitch black as her consciousness was fading.</p><p> </p><p>sesshomaru heard an alarming scream not far from him. the voice was well known and his heart skipped a beat acknowledging it. he speeded up as fast as he could with jaken brawling in his back. he immediately drew bakusaiga as he got to the crime scene. the nauseous pack of robbers were loading rins body on the back of a horse, touching her inappropriately. she seemed non-sentient. wild anger clouded sesshomarus vision as he slaughtered the men down without mercy. nobody... nobody would ever lay a hand on rin without being punished with death.</p><p>growling, he jumped over to rins motionless body. his hands were dripping with blood yet he picked her up and wrapped his arms around her body, flying away from the crime scene to a safer place. rin started to gain back her consciousness and felt the fluffy mononoke stroking her face. he had come for her. she squeezed him, and whispered a frail thanks.</p><p>"rin", sesshomarus voice was unnaturally soft. he landed on a grassland near a river and crouched down on the grass, letting her head rest on his knees. he just looked at her while she recovered, touching her cheeks gently with his claws. "just what are you doing?" he looked at her like he did not even expect an answer.</p><p>rin was still too dizzy to engage in an actual conversation. she just snuzzled into his lab and fell asleep after a little while. the sky was clear this night and the glade was lit up by the moon. sesshomaru did not go to sleep this night. he wondered about his decisions and what he would do next. one thing was clear to him though; he could not let rin get off on her own again. and besides, he really enjoyed her company after this very long time being apart. he only visited her in the village as often as he could, but they didnt truly spent time together. he wondered where rin had been recently. the sword he took from where he found her had her smell on it, so he grabbed it. but it also smelled like kohaku.</p><p>he sat with her until the sun began setting. jaken had joined the two late at night, together with a-un. he was asleep as well. rin woke up to the first rays of sunshine, finding herself still in his arms. her heart bounced warmly. her head still hurt a little bit but she felt much better. she sat up, intending to get some water from the creek. she felt his hand still resting gently on her back and turned around to look him in the eyes.</p><p>he had a soft look on his face witch was seen very rarely. "are you alright", he asked.</p><p>she nodded and could not hold back a smile. "i am glad you came for me." she got up to drink some water and clean her face.</p><p>as soon as she was ready, she started looking around and noticed a-un and jaken. a bright scream cut through the morning stillness. seconds later, rin had wrapped her arms around a-uns neck and held him as tight as she could. a-un bawled with joy, happy to see her little fellow again. "hello, jaken!", rin greeted the grumpy little demon with a big fat smile. he also seemed to be happy to have her around again. but he was in a hurry - lord sesshomaru had advised him to go and search for breakfast for their human guest.</p><p>rin was still a bit wobbly on her toes. but she was so happy to see all of them again, even though it was still unclear how they would proceed.</p><p>as if he had read her mind, sesshomaru sat down next to her in the grass. he did not look at her, yet began talking. "i shouldnt have left you without goodbyes", he started, "yet it was foolish to leave the village alone. to put your own life at risk like that. if i wouldnt have traced you last second, you would be-"</p><p>"i would have managed somehow", rin grid her teeth but her voice was certain. she didnt feel like being lectured right now. of course he was right, but he seemed to already be aware of that, so why give him credit?</p><p>sesshomaru turned his head around and their eyes met. rin was kinda embarrassed and flinched. had it been really necessary to be that snippy? probably not. but sesshomaru didnt seem to care. his face had softened. "if you really need to wander around so bad, forget what i said please. stay with me. i can teach you how to use that sword and i will be there whenever you need assistance."</p><p>rin couldnt restrain a smile. "sounds good." she let herself fall to the side against his shoulder, as casually as she could manage. he lay his arm around her and stroked her hair. but it was not exactly what she wanted. even if she was with him again, the freedom she felt on her own was beyond words. she would definitely hang around for a while, but the things she said about independence and not wanting to be supervised anymore were still very true.</p><p>she thought about kohaku as well. she owed him big time.</p><p>but now she just felt deeply enrooted in the moment.<br/>
happy and peace.</p>
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